NORTH AMERICA. 



93 



Redioinged Oriole, 



grass They are very solicitous for the safety of their nests and young ; and if they are de- 

 stroyed or carried away, they will continue near the 

 place several days restless and dejected. In capti- 

 vity they soon become familiar. 



The Orckard Oriole (/. spuriiis) difiers from 

 the preceding in its color, size, and notes, which are 

 not so full, but uttered with more rapidity. Wilson 

 thus speaks of one which he reared from the nest. 

 " It had an odd method of moving its head and neck 

 slowly, regularly, and in various directions, when in- 

 tent on observing any thing, without stirring its body. 

 This motion was as slow as that of a snake. When, 

 at night, a candle was placed near its cage, it seemed 

 extremely well pleased, fed and drank, dressed, shook 

 and arranged its plumage, sat as close to the light as 

 possible, and sometimes chanted a few irregular notes, 

 as I sat reading or writing beside it." 



The Rice Bunting (I. agripcnnis) , which is 

 commonly called boblink in the Northern States, 

 and reed-bird in the Middle, though small in size, 

 is not so in consequence. His coming is hailed by 

 the sportsman with pleasure ; v. bile the careful planter 

 looks upon him as a devouring scourge, and worse 

 than a plague of locusts. These birds do great damage 

 to early wheat and barley, and devour Indian corn with 

 great eagerness. They pour down upon the oat fields 

 in a torrent, and resort to the Middle States in im- 

 mense numbers, to feed upon the wild oats. In the 

 autumn they sw'arm in the rice fields at the south, 

 and devour great quantities of that grain. They have, 

 however, three good qualities ; their plumage is beau- 

 tiful, their song highly musical, and their flesh excel- 

 lent. 



The JMagpie [Corvus pica) is confined in this coun- 

 try to the northern regions, -and to the extensive plains 

 of the Rocky Mountains, west of the Mississippi. 

 Thence they continue to the banks of the Columhia 

 and the Missouri. It is very remarkable that this bird 

 is not found in the eastern parts of the United States. Mr. Nuttall remarks, that "the absence of 

 food and shelter for their nests in summer, suitable for the magpie, on the vast prairies of the Ar- 

 kansas and Missouri, particularly toward the sandy deserts at the foot of the Kocky Moun- 

 tains, will probably continue as a perpetual barrier to the eastern migrations of this mischievous 

 species, whose means of flight and traveling are more circumscribed than those of the connnon 

 crow." 



The magpie is common in England, France, and other parts of Europe, and European 

 writers have furnished us with many descriptions of them. These birds are often seen perched 

 upon the back of an ox or sheep, picking up the insects to be found there, chattering and tor- 

 menting the poor animal at the same time, and stretch out their necks for combat, if the beast 

 turns its head backward to apprehend them. They seek out also the nests of birds ; and if the 

 parent escapes, the eggs make up for the deficiency. No food seems to come amiss to this 

 bird ; it shares with ravens in their carrion, with rooks in their grain, and uith the cuckoo in 

 their eggs ; but it seems possessed of a providence seldom usual with gluttons ; for when it is 

 satisfied for the present, it lays up the remainder of the feast for another occasion. It will even 

 in a tame state hide its food when it has done eating, and after a time return to the secret hoard 

 with renewed appetite and vociferation. The magpie's nest is built with surprising labor and 

 ngenuity. 



The body of the nest is composed of hawthorn branches ; the thorns sticking outward, but 

 well united together by their mutual insertions. Within it is lined with fibrous roots, wool, and 



The Rice, Bunting. 



